How do the horror heavyweights of “Freddy vs. Jason” measure up? Here’s a rundown of their vital stats. You be the judge.
Age
• Jason Voorhees: 36. He was “around 10 or 11” in the original “Friday the 13th” (1980), according to series creator Sean S. Cunningham. Since “Part VI: Jason Lives,” he’s been an unstoppable zombie.
• Freddy Krueger: Though he originally was conceived (in “84) as someone in his 60s or 70s, his age is immaterial because he’s a supernatural being.
Height
• Jason: 6-foot-5 (stuntman Ken Kirzinger’s height). He was 6-foot-3 when Kane Hodder played him in chapters 7-10.
• Freddy: 5-foot-10 (actor Robert Englund’s height).
Weight
• Jason: 250-275 lbs.
• Freddy: 160 lbs.
Pre-fight histories
• Jason is a hydrocephalic child who drowned at summer camp; his schizoid mother takes revenge in the first “Friday” on counselors who “were making love” when her son died. Jason returned from his watery grave for chapters 2-10.
• Freddy – a school janitor who, it’s strongly hinted, is a pederast – killed “at least 20 kids” before being hunted down by his victims’ parents and set ablaze in his hide-out, an abandoned boiler room.
Home turf
• Jason began his bloody reign at Camp Crystal Lake, N.J.
• Freddy claimed his first victims in a suburb called Springwood (later located in Ohio).
First handlers
• Cunningham, producer-director of “Friday the 13th,” went on to produce “Spring Break,” the “House” series, plus the last two “Friday” sequels.
• Wes Craven, writer-director of the original “Nightmare,” went on to direct “The Serpent and the Rainbow,” the “Scream” trilogy and “Music of the Heart,” a rare non-genre entry.
Killer threads
• Jason favors soiled coveralls and, dating to “Friday 3,” that signature hockey mask. The robotic uber-Jason in “Jason X” sports metallic armor.
• Freddy’s more rakish: He wears a green-and-red striped sweater and a snap-brim fedora.
Weapons of choice
• Jason swings a mean machete.
• Freddy wears a glove on his right hand with blades mounted over his fingers.
Body counts
• Jason: 127 to 1,000 (if you include residual kills, such as when he causes a ship to sink in “Friday VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”).
• Freddy: 40 to 1,000 (factoring in off-screen deaths).
Scare tactics
• Jason stalks horny teenagers, usually in the woods.
• Freddy attacks them in their dreams.
Counterattacks
• Jason: Ram him, douse him with gasoline, push him from high places – for temporary relief.
• Freddy: Black coffee. A bedside buddy. A dream-suppressant called Hypnocil. He’s usually immolated in the end.
Spectacular bouts
• Jason iis in space in “Jason X.”
• Freddy takes over for Lucifer in “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.”
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